Strictly Come Dancing bosses 'prioritising celebrities with big social media followings as they struggle to attract big stars' - after fans voiced disappointment over 'weak' line-up

Strictly Come Dancing bosses are prioritising celebrities with big social media followings.

The cast for the upcoming 2026 series is nearly complete, but disappointed fans of the BBC's flagship show have criticised the 'weak' line-up, with fans claiming there aren't enough 'household names'.

Now an insider has revealed the broadcaster has a casting strategy as part of its major overhaul of the show, which has been running for 22 years.

This year the series has been deliberate in its targeting of celebrities with big social media followings in a ploy to attract younger viewers to the show.

It has been suggested this is to follow a similar, hugely successful social media strategy employed by its US counterpart Dancing With The Stars. 

'Although your traditional Strictly audience might not know who some of the signings are, that's not as important as bringing in new viewers who are more than familiar with them,' the source revealed.

'Their followers are vast in numbers, enthusiastic and, by sharing content on Strictly, raise the profile of the show massively.

'And, in time, the viewers who don't know these people get to know them. If anything they end up going on much more of a "Strictly Journey" than the stars you'd describe as "household names,"' the source added to The Sun.

This year's line-up includes Lacey Turner, Dani Dyer, Delta Goodrem, Chris Appleton, Cach Mercer, Will Best, Dame Sarah Storey, Jaime Winstone, Bethany Antonia, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Graeme 'The Dogfather' Hall, Lawrence Robb, John Nellis and Tabby Stoecker.

Celebrities such as Kim Kardashian's hair stylist Appleton might not be a household name, but he does boast a huge social media following with 4million fans on Instagram.

Sports YouTuber Nellis has an even bigger fanbase, with 15.7million YouTube subscribers.

Dancing With The Stars has used their celebrity contestants' followings to their advantage, introducing a TikTok Night last year – an episode which saw the contestants perform viral dance routines, sparking an uptick in interaction from younger viewers.

The Dancing With The Stars TikTok account now has more than 5million followers, in comparison to Strictly's 670,000.

And even before this year's Strictly line-up was announced, the professional dancers fell victim to the same strategy. In recent months popular dancers Nadiya Bychkova, Karen Hauer, Michelle Tsiakkas, Luba Mushtuk and Gorka Marquez have all been given the boot.

It's understood pros with bigger online followings have been chosen over dancers who are not so TikTok friendly as the series tries desperately to attract a younger audience.

One example appears to be axed Bychkova, who has 214,000 Insta followers, while Dianne Buswell, with 1.2million Instagram followers and 973,000 on TikTok, has kept her place in the line-up.

Meanwhile five new young pros have been recruited with ballroom champ Maddie Ingoldsby boasting 364,000 TikTok followers. 

Former Strictly judge and renowned choreographer Arlene Phillips recently criticised the pro hirings, telling Good Morning Britain last month: 'The new pros, as long as they can dance. I mean, most of them are sort of influencers and they talk an awful lot. As long as those pros can dance.'

And the trio of new hosts also have a strong online presence. Comedian Josh Widdicombe has more than half a million Instagram followers on his personal account whilst the Insta page for his hugely popular podcast Parenting Hell has 250,000.

Emma Willis has 2million Instagram followers and fan-favourite dancer Johannes Radebe, who will act as a co-presenter this year, has 458,000 followers.   

The insider has explained that the BBC struggles to attract big-name celebrities these days, because the landscape has changed.

The source continued: 'Crucially the pipeline that used to feed these big shows has changed.

'Boyband and girlband stars aren't as prevalent any more and, once upon a time, getting someone from a soap or a big drama was a massive deal, but now even that has diminished somewhat.

'Now, though, social media is continuing to boom and big stars from the world of TikTok, YouTube and Instagram are known to a vast section of society.'